


The Hole

by literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Claustrophobia, Cliffhangers, Gen, Horror, Pre-Series, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:12:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3611310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte/pseuds/literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What, it wasn't creepy enough before?” Alex laughs. “A weird hole appears out of nowhere in a weird tower that also appeared out of nowhere. Sounds pretty creepy on its own, honestly."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hole

Alex's shitty car that's almost older than he is comes to a stop at the edge of the grass. Going down these dirt trails must finally be taking its toll on his tires, because they squeal when he breaks. The engine sputters to a stop. The radio, playing old bluegrass music that neither of them have been paying much attention to, cuts off as he pulls the keys out of the ignition. He stuffs them in his pockets and digs around for something else, and the sound of his keys rattling is magnified against the quiet darkness until Jay can't bear it another second.

Thankfully he stops and pulls out his hands, empty. "Damn, I forgot my flashlight." He puffs his cheeks and blows out a gust of air. He searches through his pockets once again, gives up, and turns to Jay. "You got one on you?"

"Uh, let me check." Jay fishes around in his wallet and retrieves the key chain flashlight he's had saved in there since he bought it at the Dollar Tree. "I think it still works."

He hands it to Alex. It doesn't turn on when he tries the button, and he has to shake it a couple times to get the light to blink on. The small shaft of light barely illuminates the grease stain on the seat next to him, let alone the night outside the car window.

Alex points it at Jay's eye and grins when he covers up his face. "You ready?"

"I don't see why we can't do this during the day," Jay complains.

"Don't be a scaredy cat!" Alex laughs. He pops open the door and slides out of his seat. Jay struggles with the seat belt he actually put on, but he can't get his hands between the seats where it has sunk into like a mouse into its hole.

For a January night, it's ridiculously humid and windy. The wind tries to tug Alex's hair off his scalp with blustery hot fingers. A scattering of clouds covers the moon, and the rest of the sky is a thick, murky black. The flashlight is almost stronger than the dull light the stars give off. He glances around the park and swivels the flashlight around to look at the trees. The owls from the surrounding woods join in distantly with the cicadas buzzing and crying in the wild grass.

Alex cups his hands around his mouth, the chain of the flashlight hanging around his pinky finger, and does his best impression of a wolf howling. Jay laughs at him from inside the car, but without waiting for Jay to join him, he makes his way towards the crumbling red tower by the trees.

"Hurry up, Jay!" He has to shout over the wind.

Last night's rain left the ground muddy and swampy, and his shoes make a wet suction noise when he steps out of the car and into the grass. The headlights blink twice as Alex locks it behind him.

The first thing Jay does is stumble and trip into a puddle. He throws his hands out and swears when he scratches his palm on a rock. Jay quickly stands up, brushes the dirt off his pants, and jogs after Alex. He rubs his hand and hopes it stops bleeding soon.

Now his socks are soaking wet and sticking uncomfortably to his skin. He should have brought a pair of shoes he wouldn't mind getting dirty. The bottoms of his pants drag in the mud and force him to slow down. The wind makes the weeds tangle around his legs, and foxtails snag at his clothes. The cicadas go deathly quiet as he passes them.

Jay slaps the back of his neck as a mosquito lands on him, and he bends down to look with Alex. 

Alex squats at the entrance to the red tower and squints down into the hole. The once flat bottom of the tower opens up into a dark, empty abyss. He thought it would be a great idea to scope it out the day after they found it there - or, more accurately, the night after. The over-dramatic asshole was convinced it would "ruin the discovery" if they went during the day, and Jay agreed to go along with his bad idea anyway.

He takes off his glasses and wipes them on his shirt, quickly putting them back on. "I can't see anything down there," he says.

"Use the flashlight," Jay suggests.

"No offense, but your flashlight is a piece of crap."

"Hey! I wasn't the one who forgot to bring mine!"

Alex ignores Jay's comeback and aims the light inside the hole. "I can see a little ways down. It isn't a straight drop, but it won't be a smooth hike."

"Hike? How long will we be here?"

He shrugs. "As long as the hole keeps going."

Alex then gently lowers himself inside. He looks back to make sure Jay is still behind him and hasn't chickened out, like the haunted house they went to last Halloween. Or the graveyard he thought it would be cool to explore. He's inclined to agree with his parents who think Alex is a bad influence on him, but without his friend, he'd be sitting at home alone wasting the hours on his computer. At least he's out of the house.

"Again, I really wish we were doing this during the day." Jay follows after him anyway. He thinks, as the world goes dark and the only guidance he's left with is the tiny key chain flashlight, that they should have told someone where they were going beforehand.

The hole goes sharply downward for what must be a good twenty feet. The faint moonlight closes up behind them as they leave behind the entrance. Jay scrambles to keep his footing, and Alex pretends he isn't on the brink of losing his balance with every other step. Alex makes casual small talk as they descend, and Jay is alright with letting him fill the silence. He replies with a "Mhm," or a "Yeah," or an "Alright," once in a while.

After an hour or so, the hole flattens out and starts curving to the left. It continues to slope downward, leading them further under the earth. Jay begins to notice, as they get deeper and deeper, that the air gets tighter and tighter along with it. He regrets wearing a jacket and fumbles to take it off, knocking his elbows into the walls as he wraps it around his waist. So the hole is getting narrower, too.

"We should have brought the camera," Alex says. "Why didn't you?" 

"Why didn't you bring your flashlight?"

Alex ignores him again.

The rub of his wet socks on his tiring feet is going to break out in a rash. Alex talks about his ideas for Marble Hornets and throws out random anecdotes from high school that Jay has heard rehashed a million times. Jay nods along and tries not to stub his toe on anything.

He wipes the sweat off his forehead and sighs. Alex immediately says, "What? You wanna go back already?"

"No, I'm fine. I can keep going," he lies. "Don't you think this is starting to get a little creepy, though?"

“What, it wasn't creepy enough before?” Alex laughs. “A weird hole appears out of nowhere in a weird tower that also appeared out of nowhere. Sounds pretty creepy on its own, honestly."

After what must have been another hour or two, the sound of their footsteps is no longer stifled by the dirt walls. Their footfalls are accompanied by loud splashes as they blunder forward. If they were barefoot, the water would barely come up past their toes.

The flashlight dies out in a weak sputter, and Alex holds his breath as he shakes it desperately. Jay keeps his eyes glued to the space in front of him, and they stand still, suspended in the darkness, close to panic, as they wait for it to come back on. He can almost hear the worms burrowing through the dirt walls. He can almost hear, behind him, a - suddenly it turns back. Alex lets out his breath in a rush, and they keep going, deeper and deeper into the hole.

The water comes up to their ankles. The air is so hot that Jay's face is flushed red, and he considers taking off his shirt, too. Alex gives up on talking and focuses on walking. He keeps the flashlight in a tight grip, aiming it at the shadows ahead of them or the dark, dirty water at their feet. The weight of the dirt above him is a constant pressure on his skull.

"Alex," Jay says finally. He stops for a moment and listens to the splash of water. He watches how Alex has to duck his neck to take another step down. "I think there's someone following us."

"I know," Alex replies. His strained voice sounds like he's on the verge of tears. "I know there is."

Jay whispers, "Should we go back?"

"Just keep going."

The deeper into the hole they go, the more Jay is reminded of a mouth. The water is like hot saliva and the damp air is like hungry breath on his neck. The dirt getting closer and tighter around them makes him think of teeth. He shivers, even though he's sweating.

They have to get onto their stomachs to crawl into the space ahead of them. Alex's body blocks the light, leaving Jay in the dark. He keeps his head lifted, bumping it against the low ceiling with every movement, so he can breathe above the water. His shirt drags along the hard rock underneath him. It scratches open the cut on his palm, and it starts bleeding anew. He can't see the faint trail of blood he leaves behind as he scoots further along.

Alex starts openly crying. He keeps mumbling, "We should go back. I want to go back. We'll go hang out at my place and forgot about the hole."

But they keep going. Jay can hear someone shuffling behind them and tries to tune it out after some immeasurable period of time. Tries not to think about earthquakes. Tries not to think about what would happen if they reached a dead end. Tries to keep breathing.

In one moment he's staring at the bottom of Alex's shoes, and in the next he sees a small beam of light dart through the air. Then darkness. Alex shouts, and he hears him hit the floor. He groans as the breath is knocked out of him.

"Alex? Alex? Are you okay?" he calls out.

"Just warning you, there's a drop up ahead," he coughs. "Like, really, really close up ahead."

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. You be careful getting down here. There's a lot of open space down here. I crushed my glasses when I fell, though, so I can't see jack shit. And...I might have lost the flashlight."

"Shit," Jay mumbles. He gingerly scoots forward and moves his fingers along the crevice, trying to find where it drops off.

Then his block turns cold and his heart stops.

Someone is grabbing his foot.

His first instinct is to kick backward, and he connects with a face. The thing reels away, loosening their vice-like grip on his foot, and he wriggles out after Alex. His heart beats a thousand miles per hour and he wishes he could run like that.

"What happen- " Alex starts to ask when Jay lands with a thud besides him.

"Just run!" Jay jumps up and makes a dash forward to whenever the hole will lead him. Alex listens to him for once and runs after him. They don't bother hiding the sound of their footsteps or their heavy breathing; they crash and stumble forward as fast as they can go.

Jay waves his hands in front of him, feeling his way around, but nothing connects with his fingers. The hole seems to grow bigger around him, expanding like lungs, but the air is boiling hot and hard to breath in. He thought the hole might have joined the sewers - that would have explained the water - but it just keeps going deeper and deeper.

"Jay?" Alex pants from far behind him. Jay stops and waits for him to catch up, but after a few minutes Alex says again, from his right, "Jay? Jay!"

"I'm over here!"

"Jay? Where are you?"

"Just stay where you are, I'm coming to -"

He starts towards the sound of Alex's voice until he hears from his left, "Jay! Can you hear me?"

He whips his head around and shouts, "I'm right here, Alex! Right here! I'm going to find you, okay?"

Closer to him, almost behind him. "Jay? Is that you? Jay!"

"Yeah, it's me! Stay put, I'm going to -"

In the far distance he can pinpoint the sound of rattling car keys and a muffled, "Jay! Where are you?"

Besides him, someone turns on the flashlight.


End file.
